Croydon Kings
Encyclopedia
The Croydon Kings are a football (soccer) club in Adelaide
, South Australia
. Croydon Kings play in the South Australian Super League
. They play home games at Polonia Reserve at Croydon in the Adelaide's west. They are one of the most successful sides in South Australian football. The club's ethnic background is Polish Australian
and the club was founded as the Polonia Adelaide Sports Club. The Polonia Adelaide Sports Club was founded on 16 June 1950 by Alex Cmielewski and Karol Metanomski.
and Sturt before beating another 1st division side Beograd
3-1 in the final. In 1954 while still in the 2nd division Polonia created another piece of history when they beat Juventus 3-1 in the final of the Association Cup to become the only team to have the cup twice while outside the 1st division. 1955 was another great year. In its first season in Division One Polonia took out another Premiership, losing only 2 of its 18 matches. Polonia also reached the Cup Final in 1955. The next 3 years saw Polonia finish 4th in 1956, runners-up in both 1957 and 1958, and then 4th again in 1959 before a decline commenced.
In 1960-9th, then 7th in 1961 and 6th in 1962. In 1962 Polonia imported four players from Poland-Katolik, Kreft (Edmund left Polonia in the 70's and assisted Adelaide City in entering the NSL
with great success), Gumowski and Szczurzynski. Despite a minor revival in 1963, when the club finished fourth, Polonia was finally relegated to the Second Division in 1964 when it finished last. In many respects relegation in 1964 proved a blessing in disguise. It took the opportunity to completely rebuild its Senior team. In 1965, it won the John Martin Cup and bounced back again into the First Division and won the Jaxen Cup-the Second Division Premiership. In 1966 Polonia welcomed the arrival of Typek, Manka, Nowak and Paprotny from Poland which assisted us in winning the Federation Cup, the Bailetti Cup and the Ampol night series! What a year! The former Division 1 player with Gwardia Warsaw
Eugene Nowak at the age of 30 was appointed the player-coach of Polonia. A number of Polonia players including Eugene Novak reveled in playing against the mighty Manchester United on 27/6/67 against the likes of Denis Law, Bobby Charlton Nobby Stiles and Brian Kidd. Eugene won the West End Medal and the club added to its trophy cabinet this year with the club winning the Savings Bank Shield in 1967 and the Ampol Cup. Led by Eugene in 1968 Polonia went one further winning the Federation Cup, the Junior Cup, the Savings Bank Shield and the Singlehurst Shield then in 1969 the club slumped to 7th in the League.
The arrival of three more of Polonia's imports namely Zdebel, Cygan and Poloczek saw the club win the First Division Premiership and the Federation Cup. 1975 saw the club take out the Wills Cup and become the South Australian Champions. In the Inaugural year of the National Soccer League, Polonia took out 3 major honours-the First Division Title, the Coca-Cola Cup and the Ampol Cup. Much of the credit for the 1977 triumph go to the Player-Coach Jan Mszyca who was recruited from Poland's top side-L.K.S. Lodz towards the end of 1976. Jan's presence was felt when Polonia then took out the Ampol Cup again in 1978.
In 1981 Polonia was runner up in the league and also reached the Federation Cup Final. In February 1982 Jan Kierno arrived from Poland and the senior team was runner up in the league, the reserve and junior teams won their respective Premierships. In 1983 Adam Karpinski arrived from Poland and the senior team finished third, Reserves fourth and the Juniors again won their Premiership. The Senior team however did win the Coca-Cola Cup and Jan Kierno won the Rothmans medal. After sliding down the table in 1984, Polonia contracted a Professional Coach from Poland, W Obrebski, who would solve the coaching problem which had existed at the club over the last few years. Then suddenly a few months later in January 1985, to the shock of everybody in the league, Obrebski was killed in a car accident. Despite the heavy blow and in his honour, the senior team finished fourth but won the Coca-Cola Cup. The Reserves team however did win the Bailetti Cup. In 1987 the senior team finished sixth and the Reserves team finished second. 1986 saw the senior team finish eighth, reserves fifth and the Juniors fourth. David Doorne Captain of the senior team did however did win the Rothmans Medal. In 1988 the club contracted Professional Coach Z Gutowski and three further players from Poland-M Niewiadomski, P Wieczorek and E Lonka. The senior team finished seventh, the Reserves fourth and the Juniors fifth. M Niewiadomski finished the season as the Leagues Top Scorer and won $1000 and the Bianco Award for his season tally of 16 goals.
1993 saw the implementation of the U23 team replacing the Reserves and the removal of ethnic names from the league. Hence our teams were known as Croydon PSC. The senior team finished 9th in the new competition.
After playing Enfield City
for the Minor Premiership in 2002 with the new name of the Croydon Kings, the team spurred on and watched with over 2000 spectators won not only an epic encounter to re-enter the Premier league in its first attempt, but also the State League Championship.
In 2007 Polonia won the Best Premier League and secured promotion to the Best Super League where they finished bottom in their first season in the top league and were demoted back to Premier League.
In 2010 Polonia won the Premier League Grand final Play-Off series defeating Modbury Jets
2-1 in the final at Hindmarsh Stadium
to secure promotion to the Super League
. The following year the club finished 8th and avoided relegation back to the Premier League
after managing a number of draws towards the end of the season, most notably a 1-1 draw against Adelaide City
in the last round of the season denying them the Minor Premiership
.
On 1 September 2011, it was announced that the new senior team coach for the 2012 season would be club legend John Kosmina
.
1st Division Champions: 1955, 1975 & 1977
2nd Division Champions: 1965 & 2002
Federation Cup Winners: 1952, 1954, 1966, 1968, 1975, 2000
Third Division Premiers: 1952
Ampol Cup Winners: 1966, 1973, 1977, 1978
Coca-Cola Cup Winners: 1977,1978, 1983, 1985
Bailetti Cup Winners: 1966, 1970, 1979, 1985.
John Kosmina
Vic Bozanic
Joel Porter
Rocky Visconte
Osama Malik
Evan Kostopoulos
(Junior) Anthony LaPaglia
(Junior)
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
, South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
. Croydon Kings play in the South Australian Super League
South Australian Super League
The South Australian Super League is the highest state-level association football competition in South Australia and commenced in 2006. Prior to the 2006 season, the highest level competition in South Australia was the South Australian Premier League. Nationally, it is one grade lower than the...
. They play home games at Polonia Reserve at Croydon in the Adelaide's west. They are one of the most successful sides in South Australian football. The club's ethnic background is Polish Australian
Polish Australian
Poland has been a source country of immigrants to Australia, in particular in the post-war period. Immigration from Poland has long tapered off, with Polish Australian population now part of the mainstream Australian community.-Demography:...
and the club was founded as the Polonia Adelaide Sports Club. The Polonia Adelaide Sports Club was founded on 16 June 1950 by Alex Cmielewski and Karol Metanomski.
History
The club entered the 3rd division of the SASFA competition in 1952 and won the championship in its first year. They remained unbeaten throughout the year and are the only team in history to have done so. In the same year Polonia became the first 3rd division team to win the Association Cup after beating 1st division sides JuventusAdelaide City
Adelaide City is a football club in Adelaide, South Australia. They are also known as The Zebras. They played in the National Soccer League for 27 Seasons but withdrew just prior to the 2003/2004 season. They now play in the South Australian Super League. City won the inaugural Super League...
and Sturt before beating another 1st division side Beograd
White City Woodville
White City Woodville are a football club from Adelaide, South Australia. White City Woodville play in the South Australian Premier League formed in 2006. They are based at Frank Mitchell Park in Woodville West in Adelaide's western suburbs. They are a Serbian Australian-backed club and are also...
3-1 in the final. In 1954 while still in the 2nd division Polonia created another piece of history when they beat Juventus 3-1 in the final of the Association Cup to become the only team to have the cup twice while outside the 1st division. 1955 was another great year. In its first season in Division One Polonia took out another Premiership, losing only 2 of its 18 matches. Polonia also reached the Cup Final in 1955. The next 3 years saw Polonia finish 4th in 1956, runners-up in both 1957 and 1958, and then 4th again in 1959 before a decline commenced.
In 1960-9th, then 7th in 1961 and 6th in 1962. In 1962 Polonia imported four players from Poland-Katolik, Kreft (Edmund left Polonia in the 70's and assisted Adelaide City in entering the NSL
National Soccer League
The National Soccer League is the former national association football competition in Australasia, overseen by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977, until its demise in 2004...
with great success), Gumowski and Szczurzynski. Despite a minor revival in 1963, when the club finished fourth, Polonia was finally relegated to the Second Division in 1964 when it finished last. In many respects relegation in 1964 proved a blessing in disguise. It took the opportunity to completely rebuild its Senior team. In 1965, it won the John Martin Cup and bounced back again into the First Division and won the Jaxen Cup-the Second Division Premiership. In 1966 Polonia welcomed the arrival of Typek, Manka, Nowak and Paprotny from Poland which assisted us in winning the Federation Cup, the Bailetti Cup and the Ampol night series! What a year! The former Division 1 player with Gwardia Warsaw
Gwardia Warszawa
Gwardia Warszawa is a Polish football club based in Warsaw, Poland. The club was founded in 1948 and is currently playing in the Polish A klasa . It participated in the Polish 1st League between 1953–1960 , 1962–1966 , 1967–1968, 1969–1975, 1978–1979 and 1981–1983...
Eugene Nowak at the age of 30 was appointed the player-coach of Polonia. A number of Polonia players including Eugene Novak reveled in playing against the mighty Manchester United on 27/6/67 against the likes of Denis Law, Bobby Charlton Nobby Stiles and Brian Kidd. Eugene won the West End Medal and the club added to its trophy cabinet this year with the club winning the Savings Bank Shield in 1967 and the Ampol Cup. Led by Eugene in 1968 Polonia went one further winning the Federation Cup, the Junior Cup, the Savings Bank Shield and the Singlehurst Shield then in 1969 the club slumped to 7th in the League.
The arrival of three more of Polonia's imports namely Zdebel, Cygan and Poloczek saw the club win the First Division Premiership and the Federation Cup. 1975 saw the club take out the Wills Cup and become the South Australian Champions. In the Inaugural year of the National Soccer League, Polonia took out 3 major honours-the First Division Title, the Coca-Cola Cup and the Ampol Cup. Much of the credit for the 1977 triumph go to the Player-Coach Jan Mszyca who was recruited from Poland's top side-L.K.S. Lodz towards the end of 1976. Jan's presence was felt when Polonia then took out the Ampol Cup again in 1978.
In 1981 Polonia was runner up in the league and also reached the Federation Cup Final. In February 1982 Jan Kierno arrived from Poland and the senior team was runner up in the league, the reserve and junior teams won their respective Premierships. In 1983 Adam Karpinski arrived from Poland and the senior team finished third, Reserves fourth and the Juniors again won their Premiership. The Senior team however did win the Coca-Cola Cup and Jan Kierno won the Rothmans medal. After sliding down the table in 1984, Polonia contracted a Professional Coach from Poland, W Obrebski, who would solve the coaching problem which had existed at the club over the last few years. Then suddenly a few months later in January 1985, to the shock of everybody in the league, Obrebski was killed in a car accident. Despite the heavy blow and in his honour, the senior team finished fourth but won the Coca-Cola Cup. The Reserves team however did win the Bailetti Cup. In 1987 the senior team finished sixth and the Reserves team finished second. 1986 saw the senior team finish eighth, reserves fifth and the Juniors fourth. David Doorne Captain of the senior team did however did win the Rothmans Medal. In 1988 the club contracted Professional Coach Z Gutowski and three further players from Poland-M Niewiadomski, P Wieczorek and E Lonka. The senior team finished seventh, the Reserves fourth and the Juniors fifth. M Niewiadomski finished the season as the Leagues Top Scorer and won $1000 and the Bianco Award for his season tally of 16 goals.
1993 saw the implementation of the U23 team replacing the Reserves and the removal of ethnic names from the league. Hence our teams were known as Croydon PSC. The senior team finished 9th in the new competition.
After playing Enfield City
Enfield City Falcons
The Enfield City Falcons are a football club from Adelaide, South Australia. Enfield play in the FFSA South Australian Premier League...
for the Minor Premiership in 2002 with the new name of the Croydon Kings, the team spurred on and watched with over 2000 spectators won not only an epic encounter to re-enter the Premier league in its first attempt, but also the State League Championship.
In 2007 Polonia won the Best Premier League and secured promotion to the Best Super League where they finished bottom in their first season in the top league and were demoted back to Premier League.
In 2010 Polonia won the Premier League Grand final Play-Off series defeating Modbury Jets
Modbury Jets
The Modbury Jets are a football club in Adelaide, South Australia, they field both Senior and Junior teams. Seniors play home matches at Jet Park in Modbury, north of Adelaide and the Juniors play at Burragah Reserve, Modbury.-History:...
2-1 in the final at Hindmarsh Stadium
Hindmarsh Stadium
Hindmarsh Stadium is a rectangular stadium located in Adelaide, South Australia. It is the home of the Australian A-League team, Adelaide United....
to secure promotion to the Super League
South Australian Super League
The South Australian Super League is the highest state-level association football competition in South Australia and commenced in 2006. Prior to the 2006 season, the highest level competition in South Australia was the South Australian Premier League. Nationally, it is one grade lower than the...
. The following year the club finished 8th and avoided relegation back to the Premier League
South Australian Premier League
The South Australian Premier League is now the second-highest state-level football competition in South Australia. It is conducted by the Football Federation of South Australia , the state's governing body. Prior to the 2006 season, this was the highest level competition in South Australia...
after managing a number of draws towards the end of the season, most notably a 1-1 draw against Adelaide City
Adelaide City
Adelaide City is a football club in Adelaide, South Australia. They are also known as The Zebras. They played in the National Soccer League for 27 Seasons but withdrew just prior to the 2003/2004 season. They now play in the South Australian Super League. City won the inaugural Super League...
in the last round of the season denying them the Minor Premiership
2011 South Australian Super League
-References:...
.
On 1 September 2011, it was announced that the new senior team coach for the 2012 season would be club legend John Kosmina
John Kosmina
Alexander John Kosmina , known as John Kosmina, is a former Australian football player and manager of Polish Australian ethnicity. He was most recently the manager of Sydney FC...
.
Club Honours
Premier League Champions: 2007, 20101st Division Champions: 1955, 1975 & 1977
2nd Division Champions: 1965 & 2002
Federation Cup Winners: 1952, 1954, 1966, 1968, 1975, 2000
Third Division Premiers: 1952
Ampol Cup Winners: 1966, 1973, 1977, 1978
Coca-Cola Cup Winners: 1977,1978, 1983, 1985
Bailetti Cup Winners: 1966, 1970, 1979, 1985.
Current Squad
Notable Former Players
Roger RomanowiczRoger Romanowicz
Roger Romanowicz is an Australian former association football player.-Club career:Romanowicz played for Adelaide Polonia in the South Australian Premier League before playing for Adelaide City in the 1977 National Soccer League season.-International career:Romanowicz played his first full...
John Kosmina
John Kosmina
Alexander John Kosmina , known as John Kosmina, is a former Australian football player and manager of Polish Australian ethnicity. He was most recently the manager of Sydney FC...
Vic Bozanic
Vic Bozanic
Vic Bozanic is an Australian former association footballer. He is the father of Oliver Bozanic.-Club career:Bozanic played for Polonia Adelaide before moving to West Adelaide in the National Soccer League...
Joel Porter
Joel Porter
Joel William Porter is an Australian football player who plays as a striker for the Hyundai A-League team Gold Coast United...
Rocky Visconte
Rocky Visconte
Rocky Visconte is an Australian professional football player who plays for Brisbane Roar.-Croydon Kings:In 2005 he made his first senior appearance for local South Australian Premier League club Croydon Kings...
Osama Malik
Osama Malik
Osama "Ozzie" Malik is an Australian football player who currently plays for Adelaide United.- Club career :...
Evan Kostopoulos
Evan Kostopoulos
Evan Kostopoulos is an Australian football striker player who currently plays for .-Club Career:In 2007 he played his first senior football game for local side Adelaide Olympic were he was able to make 21 appearances scoring 6 goals.In 2009 he signed for then South Australian Premier League side...
(Junior) Anthony LaPaglia
Anthony LaPaglia
Anthony M. LaPaglia is an Australian actor. He is known for his role as FBI agent Jack Malone on the American TV series Without a Trace, for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama...
(Junior)